Question
My website and email are down. What's going on?
Answer
Network Solutions is having a major outage this morning causing problems for many of our clients. We're on top of it but there's nothing we can do until Network Solutions becomes available again. We'll update you when we have more information. Thank you.
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NETWORK SOLUTIONS OUTAGE This problem is affecting nearly every one of our clients in one way or another. Some people cannot access Store Manager, others are having trouble with email, some websites are down, images won't display on the site, etc. All these problems are being caused by Network Solutions' outage. This problem is not isolated to Modern Retail but literally hundred of thousands of websites, if not more. |
Update @ 9:10 am CST
We have tried to contact Network Solutions but as you can imagine their phone lines are flooded right now. We'll update you as soon as we have more information.
Update @ 9:45 am CST
More information about their outage is coming to light. Below is a copy of their message from Network Solutions' Facebook page. Unfortunately, because of Network Solutions' outage we can't log into your account to investigate if your domain name was affected.
Update @ 10:10 am CST
Network Solutions has just updated their post to say:
Network Solutions is experiencing a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack that is impacting our customers as well as the Network Solutions site. Our technology team is working to mitigate the situation. Please check back for updates.
However, we have to agree with one reader about the above posting being deleted. It seems odd that Network Solutions would delete the above post instead of explaining what happened. This is causing more questions for us and we don't know if they were really hacked or if this is truly a denial of service attack.
Update @ 10:20 am CST
Internally we are debating the same thing as this reader:
We're starting to think it is time to move away from Network Solutions and host everyone's DNS at Rackspace. Please stay tuned for more information. Thank you.
Update @ 11:10 am CST
Network Solutions has not posted details or an explanation of this problem. However, we've read dozens of websites having the same problem and everyone is waiting for Network Solutions to come back online. Here are Network Solutions Facebook and Twitter links:
We'll keep you up to date as we can. Thank you.
Update @ 11:30 am CST
Many of our website that were having problems are not back and functioning normally. However, we don't know for sure because there still has been no official word from Network Solutions.
Update @ 11:55 am CST
Yes, others are seeing Network Solutions back up as well. You can follow the discussion about Network Solutions on Twitter here:
Update @ 12:30 pm CST
Network Solutions has finally updated their Twitter and Facebook pages saying the problem has been resolved.
Update @ 2:30 pm CST
We have two confirmed clients having problems with Network Solutions' DNS again. For one client this is causing their website to be completely down and the other one only the images on their website are not visible. We've checked Network Solutions' blog, Facebook and Twitter feeds but there is no new information. We'll continue to monitor the situation and provide you updates.
I'm sorry I wish there was more we could do for you but this problem squarely lies with Network Solutions.
Update @ 3:00 pm CST
More and more customers are reporting problems with their website, email, FTP, etc. Yes, these are all related to Network Solutions' outage. Sorry.
Update @ 3:15 pm CST
This problem has finally hit the bigger news outlets. Check out the latest from CBS News:
Update @ 4:10 pm CST - PLEASE READ
We have a lot of people confused about this problem and frankly getting a little upset with Modern Retail. This problem has nothing to do with Modern Retail, our services, or Rackspace. Instead, this is what's called a DNS problem with Network Solutions. Think of DNS as the United States Postal Service (USPS). You have given USPS a package to deliver for you but for some reason every single truck breaks down so the package can't be delivered. This is sort of like what's happening today. These packages or visitors aren't even making it to your website because Network Solutions is down. Yes, there are other "carriers", and we're thinking about changing carriers, but this change will take some thought and a lot of work. Additionally, we don't want to make this change until the problems with Network Solutions settles down because we can't even reliably log into their site to make these changes, and we certainly don't want to make the situation worse.
Just so you know Network Solutions is having problems because they are being attacked by hackers. We don't understand the full extent of the attack yet but suffice to say they are causing enough problems to bring down one of the largest registrars. We don't know why Network Solution is being attacked in this way and moving it somewhere else doesn't prevent the problem because the new provider can be attacked just as easily as Network Solutions. Again, many people and companies are affected by this attack against Network Solutions.
Update @ 7:30 pm CST
Once again Network Solutions has solve the denial of service attack.
Update @ 10:00 pm CST
Network Solutions appears to be still running normally.
Update July 18th @ 8:30 am CST
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RACKSPACE DNS MOVE Modern Retail has decided we'll be moving your DNS from Network Solutions to Rackspace. This is a huge undertaking with hundreds of domain names to move, however, we believe it is the right course of action. While Network Solutions is one of the oldest Registrars, their DNS services have been problematic over the last few months. Most of these problems appear to be caused by a denial of service attack by hackers, which are difficult if not impossible to combat entirely. The move to Rackspace's DNS does not guarantee this problem will not be eliminated because Rackspace is just as susceptible to an attack as anyone else. |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Will my website or email be down during this transition?
- No. There should be zero impact to you and your store. You won't even notice that anything has changed.
- Will this change affect the SEO on my site in any way?
- No.
- Do I need to do anything?
- No.
- Will you notify me when the change is made?
- There's no impact to you or your store so we will not be notifying you of this change.
- Could you have prevented this problem in some way?
- Not really. Yes, you can supply redundant DNS server, which is always done, but unfortunately both server were targeted by the hackers.
- Do you promise this will never happen again?
- We wish we could. It is possible that Rackspace could be targeted in the same way by hackers in the future. Such an attack could bring everything at Rackspace down, just like what happened at Network Solutions.
As always, please don't hesitate to submit a Support Request if you have any questions. Thank you.
Date Created: 07/17/13